In the age that announces the death of metaphysics, that is alive to the existence of the 'other', and defends democratic citizenship against the privilege of masters, what future can there be for a liberal arts education grounded in the pursuit of first principles? This book explores the tradition of first principles within liberal arts education, retracing the themes of discipline and freedom within its history from antiquity to RM Hutchins. It then offers a challenge to the logic of that trad